Terror squad sent to foil Isil Greek plot

SOME 200 counter-terrorism agents will be deployed to the Greek islands within weeks in an effort to thwart a campaign by Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant to infiltrate Europe, according to the EU’s most senior law enforcement officer.

The task force will be deployed alongside Greek border guards and use techniques developed by British security forces at Heathrow to spot potential terrorists, said Rob Wainwright, the chief of Europol – the EU’s law enforcement agency.

“We have, in the past year and a half, seen a strategic decision by Isil to do that and carry out spectacular attacks of the type we saw in France in Brussels,” he said. “There will be further attempts at that kind of activity.”

The deployment, which Europol originally announced in May, comes amid mounting concern about the terror group’s attempts to exploit the flow of refugees from Syria.

Last week Europol officials discovered several forged passports in a Greek refugee camp which officers believe were intended for use by Isil operatives. Security services are also concerned about European fighters seeking to return to their home countries.

Mr Wainwright said the counter-terrorism operatives will be deployed on rotation to Greece and possibly Italy in the coming weeks.

“There will be a second line of defence. We hope to deploy some into the camps where the refugees, the asylum seekers, are being held,” Mr Wainwright said.

The European Organisation for Migration estimates 270,576 refugees had travelled to Europe by sea up to August 24, most of them entering via Greece and Italy.